Installing XP on Macbook

OK, I'm a novice/amateur or whatever you want to call it. I haven't got a clue how to begin the install. I'm going to buy paralles v.soon ( as in next couple of days), and I've got my windows XP pack here with me, but I haven't got a clue what to do!

What do I do first to begin the install? Do I need to get parallels and install it before I install windows? Or do I boot up OSX then insert the windows cd.

If anyone can give me any help, or give me a link to a walk through guide that would be awesome cos I'm really stuck!

I too would have thought that.. if there were no instuctions with the download, well that's piss-poor on their part.

Ultimately VirtualMachines work like this: Install the VM software, run the VM software and config a new VM, run the new VM and put in your Windows CD. It should automagically detect it and start installing Windows.

crazycat, have you tried parallels as well, or are you saying that because bootcamp is just what you use? If you have tried both, then what benefits of using bootcamp are there, as I know you can only run one or the other.

For one thing, Parallels doesn't support 3D video. And it's a VM, which means that it's running on top of OS X, which sucks for speed. If you're just doing simple (or simpleish) things and don't want to have to boot & reboot back and forth bnetween OS X and WinXP, then Parallels is the way to go..

If you need REAL WinXP speed and compatability, then BootCamp is the way to go.

I've got XP up and running now. One quick question, how do I get windows to recognise external devices, as I plugged in my memory stick and it only appeared on my OSX desktop. Is this just a drawback of using parallels instead of BC?

crazycat, have you tried parallels as well, or are you saying that because bootcamp is just what you use? If you have tried both, then what benefits of using bootcamp are there, as I know you can only run one or the other.

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I am not carzycat, and this is my first post!

I use both Bootcamp and Parallels on my black MacBook. From what I feel (bear in mind that I allocate 512MB RAM for WindowsXP on Parallel, while Bootcamp WindowsXP has full access to 2GB RAM):

- running Windows using Bootcamp is faster, snappier. All softwares work under Bootcamp especially activesync. Not all softwares work on Parallels, and I still can't get activesync to work on Parallels yet. The negative point is I have to reboot into Mac if I want to use Mac. So for serious applications and sync with PocketPC I use Bootcamp.

- the advantage of running Parallels is I can access Windows while I use OSX, which is the same as Virtual PC, but much faster. However, some applications don't work in parallel. I also feel "insecured" using windows in Parallels. So this is just for fun and running some non-serious applications.

I recommend doing both. You can always get rid of the Windows partition in Bootcamp any time you want without damaging Mac partition. And Parallels will still run. Right now I don't trust Parallel enought to delete my Windows partition.

netdog, I've already installed XP. I just want to know how I can get to stuff from windows that is on my OSX HD. I have some software that I want to try out, but I can't get to it.

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Open up Parallels, don't boot XP, just have the summary window open. Then, click edit and go to Shared Folders. Once in there, click + to add a folder, enter path or click browse, select folder and that's it.

The shared folders then appear on the XP desktop.

Edit: remember to give name to folder, or it doesn't add it to the list. Also, only windows files will show properly, obviously. I have many pages files in my Documents folder that appear under XP as name.pages folders.

crazycat, have you tried parallels as well, or are you saying that because bootcamp is just what you use? If you have tried both, then what benefits of using bootcamp are there, as I know you can only run one or the other.

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I am running both parralles and using boot camp on my iMac and I have not seen a problem. I boot into windows to play a game but fire up parralles in OS X when I just want to use a random windows app. I obviously don't use them both at the same time but I have both there to use. What is the problem in doing this? I have seen many people who say you can't do it yet it is working for me. Or do all these peole just mean you can't run both at the same time which would seem painfully obvious to me!

netdog, I've already installed XP. I just want to know how I can get to stuff from windows that is on my OSX HD. I have some software that I want to try out, but I can't get to it.

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You can't read a MAC HFS partition in Windows XP (using boot camp) you need special software to do that. You can however use a USB flash drive to move the stuff as long sa the flash drive is formatted in windows. For parralles just use the shared folders in parrallels.

He probably said that becuase I said that. And I said that based off bad info.. or incomplete info more likely. I suspect now that the person that told me you couldn't have both was basing it on available disk space, more than technical limitaion.

It's pretty clear to me now that it's definitely possible to have both, since Parallels is simply a VirtualMachine soft for Mac OS X, and BootCamp is used to create a compeltely separate WinXP partition.

Staff Member

He probably said that becuase I said that. And I said that based off bad info.. or incomplete info more likely. I suspect now that the person that told me you couldn't have both was basing it on available disk space, more than technical limitaion.

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If you have two separate XP licenses you should be able to run both Boot Camp and Parallels.

If you have two separate XP licenses you should be able to run both Boot Camp and Parallels.

B

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Hmm, I would assume (Possibly incorrectly) that you could use one license for both Boot camp and parrallels since you can't run both at the same time. The only thing that mught get in the way is the activation may see different hardware and balk at it. Not too sure.

Staff Member

The only thing that mught get in the way is the activation may see different hardware and balk at it.

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Every version of Windows' EULA I have read seems incompatible with installing a single license more than once regardless of whether each install can be used simultaneously or not. Transfer rights granted by the EULA (for retail licenses, but usually not OEM) require you to remove the software before installing on the other machine.

As you suspect Windows can't see the real hardware within Parallels and thus won't be able to detect that it is running on the same machine as the Boot Camp version, so online activation shouldn't work...

You could always call the Activation hotline ans see if they'll give you a code anyway...

According to MacWorld.com some people have been successful in getting Microsoft to allow a single license to be activated for both Boot Camp and Parallels.

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Note that if you want to use the same copy of XP that youre using for Boot Camp, youll need to contact Microsoft via the telephone (a number will be provided when you try to activate the second copy). Based on others experiences (I havent tried this myself), if you explain that youre putting the software on the same machine, in a virtual session, theyll activate it for you.

Staff Member

According to MacWorld.com some people have been successful in getting Microsoft to allow a single license to be activated for both Boot Camp and Parallels.

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I've seen the threads as well, and that's why I said, "give them a call", at the end of my last post.

Windows activation is a bit of a crap shoot anyway, and depends on the kind of license you have (retail vs. OEM), and who you get on the phone when and if you call them. I've read a number of XP EULAs and none of them seem to specifically cover this kind of eventuality, so Microsoft is under no obligation to satisfy you. My guess is that they are more likely to let you run the license in Boot Camp and Parallels if it is a retail license instead of an OEM license, but given that a retail license costs more than two OEM licenses, you might still just be better off buying the two OEMs...

Personally, I've moved my XP Home Upgrade (retail) license twice and have always been able to activate the license online and have not had to call them.

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